


The End

by shelny18



Series: A Semblance of Normality [3]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, M/M, Peloponnesian War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2014-10-27
Packaged: 2018-02-22 21:01:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2521679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shelny18/pseuds/shelny18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a land soldier, Enjolras is in Athens when the news of the final sea battle of the Peloponnesian War arrives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The End

“The ships are back!”

The excitement in the voice roused Enjolras, brought him running to the window and leaning out to see if he could catch a glimpse of the harbour, even though he knew he was too far inland. He grabbed for his cloak and ran for the door, pulling it on as he went.

“The ships are back!” a boy cried, grinning up at Enjolras as he ran straight into him. “They’re sailing into the harbour now. We’ve won!”

“Thank the Gods,” Enjolras gasped, throwing the boy a coin before dashing off down the hill.

He was halfway towards the harbour when the noise changed, becoming a distant wailing which as it grew nearer and louder cut the blonde to the bone, making him speed up. Turning a corner he stopped dead in the centre of the street, staring down the hill at the harbour.

A single ship sat there, riding low in the waves and clearly badly damaged. It was impossible to recognise from this distance but the state it was in and the wailing which was now almost upon Enjolras told him all he needed to know. Moments later he was surrounded by people passing the news on, the wailing of mothers and wives, sisters and daughters.

"They lost."

"All the ships are lost."

"They're all dead."

"The Spartans have won."

The Spartans have won.

"What ship?" he cried, grabbing the nearest person and practically shouting it into her face. "What ship is it?"

The Delphina. An unfamiliar name to Enjolras.

Letting go of the woman he staggered away, falling to his knees when he realised what this meant. All of his friends, the men he had made his family, were dead. His mind played him scene after scene, memory after memory. Bahorel and Feuilly, on the same ship though no-one quite knew how they'd managed it having originally been assigned to different captains. Courfeyrac yelling at his father, refusing to board the ship unless Jehan was there as well because, whilst he knew the younger man can take care of himself, he still wanted to be able to keep an eye on him. Bossuet, unlucky enough to end up on a ship all alone. Combeferre and Joly with the opposite luck, having arranged things carefully with the right people. Grantaire's annoyance at being stuck with Marius so soon after he'd found Cosette and was still obsessing about her constantly. His imagination worked overtime as it went through his friends, showing him death after death. He had no idea what had happened but that didn't stop his brain. Bahorel laughing as he fought, either shouting abuse at the other ships or back-to-back with Feuilly if in hand-to-hand combat. Feuilly himself, serious as ever, in the thick of the fighting and probably one of the first to fall, because he wasn't as good as he thought he was, Enjolras knew this. Courfeyrac trying to protect everyone because that was what he did, he was the centre of his father's ship in the same way as he was the centre of their small group, and Enjolras knew the pain he would go through as each man fell, the pain which would multiply when Jehan fell. Bossuet, no doubt one of the first to fall considering his luck, probably with his smile gone for the first time since Enjolras had met him. Marius's last words would have been about Cosette, and Enjolras knew Combeferre would have been protecting Joly, could see them together in his mind's eye, the philosopher standing in front of the doctor, defending him to the end and falling together.

And Grantaire. His mind wouldn't fix on one death for Grantaire but flicked from one to another, showing him possibility after bloody possibility until all he could do was kneel there and sob, sob for the man who meant more to him than any other, sob for the man he had come to realise he loved.

Eventually he pulled himself together enough to stagger home. The whole way he was stopped by grieving women, all mistaking him for a sailor from the only surviving ship and begging him if he knew if their loved ones were alive. After trying to explain to the first few that he hadn't been on a ship in five years, that he had fought on land only a couple of weeks before, he gave in and just pushed past them, blanking everything out that he could until he was home and safe in his room. Sinking down onto his bed he let himself sink back down into the grief.

* * *

"Enjolras?"

The tired voice cut through the sleep, slowly waking Enjolras and bringing him back to the land of the living. He could feel the stickiness of the tear tracks on his cheeks from where he'd cried himself dry and so the blonde reached up to try and wipe them clean as he sat up, expecting his mother to be standing there.

It wasn't.

Enjolras practically flew across the room, throwing himself into the other man's arms and clinging to him desperately.

"Are you a vision from the Gods?" he whispered, face buried in the man's neck and feeling more than hearing the vibrations of his chuckle.

"No. At least, I wasn't last time I checked."

"I thought you were dead," Enjolras whispered, pulling back and touching his face lightly. "What happened to you being on the Dionysia?"

"We got destroyed a few days earlier. I was fished out of the sea by Delphina's captain, Valjean, on his way off to do a mission of some sort. We never did it. The day after we left the Spartans killed everyone. We were lucky we were out of there. Didn't stop us getting attacked though." Grantaire shrugged, his gaze hollow as he looked at Enjolras. "I'm just glad to be home."

"Everyone else?"

"Dead," he said flatly, pain flashing in the dark blue of his eyes. "All dead." He took in a shuddering breath. "We're the only ones left."

"At least we're here."

Pulling Grantaire over to the bed Enjolras sat them both down on the edge and wrapped his arms round the brunette.

"We rebuild our lives," Enjolras said softly. "We move on, but we never forget them. That's all we can do."

"The Spartans are going to come," Grantaire warned.

"Then if we die we die." His hand slipped down to join Grantaire's, fingers tangling together. "But at least we die together."


End file.
